Case for keys and the like



June 30, 1925. 1,543,749

w. R. BIJXTON M CASE FOR KEYS AND THE LIKE Filed April 25, 1922 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented June 30, 1925.

UNITED TATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARNER R. iaux'ron', or-"Loneivrrmnow; MASSACHUSETTS ASSIGNQR T0. BUXTON,

INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

cast: iron KEYS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed apriizzs, 1922." Serial No. 556,371.

To all whom it may coiwern:

Be'it known that I, WVARNERR. BUxToN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Longmeadow, in the county of-Hampden and State of 'Massachusettghave inventednew and useful Improvements in Casesfor Keys and the like, of which the" following accompany-ingdrawings,in which is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cases for keysand the like and the improvements are particularly applicable to that type of key case in which thekey re taining members are pivotally. supported 1 from the case for swinging movement into:

and out of the latter along arc-like paths of fixed radius. An example of one of such type of key case is disclosedin my prior United States Letters Patent No. 1,261,692 granted April 2, 1918.

This invention is concerned generally with the simplification of the key case struc-.

ture and the provision of a key case which may be manufactured at relatively low cost and nevertheless retain tthe desiredfqualr' ties of durability, convenience in operation,

and reliability inretaining the keys under the special conditions of service to which these key cases are subjected. v 7

An object of this invention is to provide an improved hook, adapted for use in key cases or for other purposes,'consis ting of a one piece member having a shank portion at one end of which is a portion bent to form a partially open'eye to be hooked over a pivotal support and at the other end of which is a portion bent backwardly upon the shank to form a retaining loop, the last named portion having a part which abuts the shank at a point closely adjacent said eye,characterized in that 'such part functionsto yieldably close the retaining loop and to also close said eye and pre vent substantial radial movemen of the hook on its pivotal support. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a key case wherein the -key retaining members are readily removable from their pivotal supporting means, when desired; I t

Another object of the invention is to pro- Vide a key ,case,v. wi-th key retaining members of improved construction which may be rap idly and conveniently assembled in the case. Another objectof the invention is-to pro vide in a key case animproved hook, which is so constructed as to retain the keys under all usual conditions of service to which the key case is subjected; 4 i

.Other objects and advantageswill appear in the following description and in the illustrative embodiment of the invention in the Figs. 1 and 2 are, frontelevational views of a key case embodying my invention and taken respectively, with the case in open and closed positionsy' i r Fig. 3 is asimilar view-0f the-pivotal supporting means for the key retaining members; 9 V V Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional View showing, in full detail, one key retaining member and the manner in -which it is supported from said means; I 1

Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrative ofthe manner in which suchmembers are assembled on theaforesaid means; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view showing a, modification in the hook construction.

Referring to these drawings; the case proper may be variously constructed, as de-- sired, so long as the key retaining members are permitted to swing into and out of the case, when the latter is open, and are held from such movement when the case is closed. Preferably, the case is con-' structed substantially as disclosed in my prior patent, above identified, and, accordingly, the case forming member consists ofa strip offlexible material, such as leather or the like, which has a central portion 10, forming the back of the case, and two end portions 11, foldable along the lines 12 in overlapping relation over the back 10 and forming the flaps of the case. These flaps may be removably secured together-in any suitable way, as by the interengageable male and female fasteners 13 and 14, respectively.

The key retaining members may be -pivoted to the case to swing in the described manner in various ways and, as an ex: ample of one suitable way whichis advantageous on the score oflow manufacturing cost, I have shown a plate l5,'which is suitably secured to back 10 near the upper edge thereof, asby eyeletrivets 16. This plate is provided, near its upper edge, with a longitudinal series of openings '17-, preferably, although not necessarily, in the form of slots having parallel side awalls, as shown. Those portions 18 of the plate. 15, between such openings and the adjacent edge' of the platkjconstitute pivotal supporting means'fo'r-the key retaining members and upon such means the latter are pivotally engaged in a manner'to'be later pointed out in full detail. The parallel. side walls of the openings 17 are desirable inthatythey parallel the sides of the key retaining members and may be located as closely adjacent thereto, as is feasible or desired, to limit the lateral movement of the members. ontheir pivotal supporting means. The/upper walls of openings 17, when parallelwith the upper edge of plate 15, form a better pivotal support for the a portion24 which is bent backwardly upon.

the shank to form a retaining loop 25. This portion 24 extends toward .eye 22 and .toward shank 20, preferably in generally converging relation with the latter, and at its free end has a portion, such as 26, which abuts. the shank at a point closely adjacent eye 22 and forms a yieldable closure forloop 25. Such portion 26 also has a second function, which is to close the opening 23 to eye 22 and,not only to close this opening, but to close it in such a manner that the hook is restrained from any considerable freedom for radial movement relatively to its pivotal supporting means 18' t The. portion 26 may be formed in various ways and need not necessarily be bent in outwardly diverging relation to the. hook shank 20, as shown, although this arrangement has generally been found preferable.

' For example, thefree endof the portion 24 might be bent inwardly, preferably in curved form, as shown at 27 in Fig. 6, and still function in the manner described. The material, of. which the hooks, are made, should, of course, have sufiicient resiliency to permitthe portions 24 and 26 to. be de flected away from shank 20, for the purpose ofpermitting.insertion and removal of the keys-in loop 25 and insertion and removal of the hooks from their pivotal supporting means, and yet spring backinto their normal illustrated positions.

. Preferablythe upperportionof plate 15 is offset for the purpose of throwing the character in a key case of the general t pe described is in the convenience and rapi ity with which the hooks may be assembled on their pivotal supporting means. To assemble a hook on the latter,the hookis positioned, relatively to the plate 15, substantially as shown in Fig. 5 andthen pushed downwardly p, over the portion 18 of the plate,the portion 26 of the hook yielding away from the free end of portion 21to receive the portion 18 and allow the hook to be moved. relatively thereto until the en trance 23 to'eye 22 comes in line with the portion 18. The portion 26 and the free end of portion 21 preferably cooperate to form a converging entrance to facilitate the operation described. When portion 18 is positioned in line with entrance 23, the free end of portion 21 is in line with a slot 1'7 and the hook can then be swung(counter-clockwise as shown to cause portion 21 to enter the slot, whereupon eye 22 is engaged with the portion 18 and the entrance 23 isthen closed by the portion 26 springing back into its original position. Thehooks' maybe rescribed; 7

This feature of theinvention is especially importantas making for lessened cost of moved by a reversal of the operation de manufacture and permitting a practically and commercially satisfactory key case to be marketed at relatively low price. To provide a really satisfactory key case, the hooks should be made of spring metal. "This means that the metalmust be bent to the desired form and then subjected to the heat treatment necessary to give the desired spring action. Bending of the hooks, after they have been'so treated, to an extent such as to give a permanent set to the material is not feasible and therefore, in key cases having proper spring hooks, the hooks need to be assembled on their supporting plate through the intermediary of a rod, or some equivalent expedient resorted to to connect the hooks withoujt any material" bending thereof. Key cases,'lacking this expedient, have been provided heretofore and the eyes of the hooks have been left partially open and then closed down after assembly by bending the metal but naturally, in order to permit bending of the metal to close theeye, the spring; quality of the key retaining hookshas "had to be sacrificed and such hooks do not stand up satisfactorily in serv ice; The present hook requires no bending, to a :le'gree sufficient to give. a permanent set in'the metal, and can be mianufactured of proper material and properly treated to give the desired spring action, nearly as cheaply as the usual hook. Its construction, however, is such that it may readily be assembled on an apertured plate and far more readilythan has been customary heretofore, whereeach hook had to be bent down after assembly to close the eye. Naturally, the rod and lugs heretofore used on the plate may be dispensed with and a considerable saving in manufacturing cost made as well as a substantial saving in the cost of assembling the hooks, which latter cost is usually the large item.

The removability of the hooks from the key case is likewise desirable. It may be that a person having a large number of keys, does not care to carry them all at one time. In such cases, the person may have spare hooks with keys upon them, which hooks may be substituted for others in the key case when these particular keys need to be carried. Also, a person may wish to loan a certain group of keys, say the keys to his automobile, and these keys grouped on a single hook, may be extracted from the case by removing the hook, thereby retaining the group of keys together.

The hook is also characterized in that the entrance to loop 25 is at the apex thereof and remote from the base. This feature is particularly useful in hooks for key cases on account of special conditions encountered in use. In using the key case, a hook with the key thereon is swung out of the case and the key is turned in the lock while the case is held stationary in the hand. The hook, being attached to the case, cannot turn with the key and the result is a side strain on the retaining loop which strain, if imposed on snap hooks of ordinary type, having a break near the base of the loop, separates the mating ends of the hook and sometimes permits escape of the key from the hook. With the present hook such side strains do not open up the loop, or at least, do not open it up at such a location or in such a manner-as to permit escape of the keys.

The invention has been disclosed herein in an embodiment at present preferred, for illustrative purposes, but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What I claim is- 1. In a key case, of the type wherein the key retaining members are pivotally supported from the case for swinging movement into and out of the latter along arclike paths of fixed radius, means provided on the case affording a pivotal support, and key retaining members pivotally mounted on the latter, each of said members having a key retaining loop and also having an open eye to be hooked over said support and means affording a spring closure for said eye'to retain the member on said support and partition said eye from said loop.

2. In a key case, of the type wherein the key: retaining .inembers are pivotally supported from the case for swinging movement-into and out of the latter along arclikeipaths of fixed radius, means provided on the case affording a pivotal support, and key retaining members pivotally mounted on the latter, each of said members having a key retaining loop with a yieldable portion forming a closure therefor and an open eye for engagement with said support, the said yieldable closure forming portion also yieldably closing the otherwise open eye.

3. In a key case, of the type wherein the key retaining members are pivotally supported from the case for swinging movement into and out of the latter along arclike paths of constant radius, means provided on the case affording a pivotal support for said members, and key retaining members, each thereof comprising a back portion one end of which is bent to form an open eye for engagement with said support and the other end of which is bent backwardly upon the back to form a key retaining loop and terminates with a portion forming a closure for the loop and a closure for said eye.

4. In a key case, of the type wherein the key retaining members are pivotally supported from the case for swinging movement into and out of the latter along arc-like paths of constant radius, means provided on the case affording a pivotal support for said members, and key retaining members, each thereof comprising a. back portion one end of which is bent to form an open eye for engagement with said support and the other end of which is bent backwardly upon the back and extends in converging relation toward and into engagement with the latter to form a key retaining loop and terminates with a portion diverging from the back and closing the open portion of said eye.

5. In a key case, of the type wherein the key retaining members are pivotally supported from the case for swinging movement into and out of the latter along arclike paths of constant radius, a member provided on the case and having a longitudinal series of openings near one edge thereof, and key retaining members, each thereof comprising a back portion one end of which is bent to form an open eye for insertion in one of said openings and adapted to be hooked over that portion of said last named member between said openings and said edge and the other end of which is bent backwardly upon the back and extends in converging relation toward the latter to form a key retaining loop and terminates with a portion forming a closure for the loop and a closure for said eye.

& I 1,543,749

6.. A hook, comprising a one-piece mempoint closely adjacent said eye to vform it her, bent to form a shank,-and a partially closure for said 100p and which also closes open eye at one end of the shank, and a the opening in said eye. 10 portion at the other end of the shank bent In testimony whereof I have aflixed my backwardly thereupon .to form a retaining signature.

loop, the free end of the last named portion having a part which abuts the shank at a- WARNER R. BUXTON. 

